World

12th February 2008

12:05 PM — Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is refusing to concede a loss to Arizona Senator John McCain in the Washington Republican caucuses.The Huckabee campaign is asking for a full recount of the caucus votes in order to determine the true winner of the contest.McCain believes he won the race, but has conceded to Huckabee's right to ask for a recount.

11th February 2008

7:30 PM — A leading human rights group has condemned an attempt by Senators in the Romanian parliament to change the country's Family Code on marriage.The far-right Greater Romania Party's amendment, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, was passed unanimously by the Senate Judicial Committee.It will need full Senate approval before it moves to the Chamber of Deputies.

4:02 PM — He may be the Republican nominee for President in all but name, but results from two primaries over the weekend indicate that it could be a tough battle for Senator John McCain to win over sections of his own party.In the Kansas caucus former Governor of Arkansas and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee took 60% of the vote to 24% for McCain and 11% for maverick candidate Ron Paul.Huckabee also took Louisiana and the results from Washington state are still too close to call.

2:20 PM — A leading Cuban politician has welcomed proposals to allow gay men and lesbian marriage rights, as the country continues to discuss its future direction.The poor health of Fidel Castro, who has led the country as a one-party state since 1959, has sparked a renewed national debate in the only Communist country in the Caribbean.The revered leader's brother Raul Castro invited Cubans to speak out without fear, and among complains about taxes and restrictions on foreign travel and internet access the issue of gay rights has come to the fore.

12:55 PM — A popular television personality in Denmark is facing calls for his resignation after he expressed disgust at the idea of two men being in love.Peter Tanev, who presents weather reports on the national channel TV2, made his comments during the evening news.Anchor Jes Dorp, commenting on an American survey that indicated friendship grows stronger over time, in contrast to marriage, joked that he and the weather presenter might fall in love.

12:43 PM — As the battle for the Democratic nomination continues to be the most closely-fought in decades, Senator Hillary Clinton has reordered her core team.Her rival Senator Barack Obama won yesterday's Maine caucus by a wide margin, his fourth victory over the weekend.The Former First Lady had been hoping to secure the state. Last week she had to lend her campaign $5m (£2.56m) of her own money after it suffered "cash flow problems."

11:20 AM — A Massachusetts federal appeals court ruled last week that an elementary school can continue to use children's books that encourage tolerance for gay people.The ACLU welcomed the decision, which rejected the claims of parents who said exposing their children to such books violated their ability to direct the religious training of their children.There has never been a federal case finding a constitutional right of parents to exempt their children from exposure to books used in public schools.

12:10 AM — The attorney general of Israel ruled on Sunday that gay couples will be allowed to jointly adopt children that are not biologically linked to either partner. Menachem Mazuz ruled that there was no legal basis for differing treatment of gay couples to straight couples.His ruling means that gay couples will be entitled to the same rights as adopted parents as straight couples.But former deputy welfare minitster Avraham Ravitz told Haretz that the government's decision is "hallucinatory."

10th February 2008

3:05 PM — Illinois Senator Barack Obama took the victory in the Washington caucus results on Saturday, beating out rival New York Senator Hillary Clinton by a strong margin.In the Republican primary, Arizona Senator John McCain pulled off a narrow win against former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.In the Washington Republican caucuses, John McCain led over Mike Huckabee 26 percent to 24 percent with 87 percent of precincts reporting in.

3:20 AM — Illinois Senator Barack Obama claimed yet another state for his war chest on Saturday, defeating rival New York Senator Hillary Clinton in the Nebraska caucus results.Obama took the victory by a landslide, showing once again his campaign's enormous strength in caucus states. Obama also won in the Washington caucus results on Saturday.With 85 percent of precincts reporting in the Nebraska Democratic caucuses, Barack Obama led over Hillary Clinton 68 percent to 32 percent of the vote.

8th February 2008

11:28 PM — The national chairman of National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, the oldest civil rights group in America, is to join the Fairness for All Families Campaign.Julian Bond, described as "an icon in the civil rights movement for nearly 50 years" and long time national Chairman of the NAACP, will serve on the honorary Board of the campaign.He joins former US Attorney General Janet Reno on the board of Fairness for All Families.

3:25 PM — A survey of Turkish attitudes has found that the vast majority would not want to live next to a gay person.1,579 persons in 41 cities were polled by Bahcesehir University's Economic and Social Research Centre.The results show that Turks are generally happy, think their country will join the EU if it meets all the criteria, but do not want to live next door to people with different identities.

3:05 PM — Human rights pressure group Amnesty International has warned that two men may soon be executed by being thrown off a cliff, an Islamic punishment for homosexual sex.Six men were sentenced by a court in May 2007 of having abducted two young men in the city of Arsanjan, to the east of Shiraz, stealing their property and raping them.Tayyeb Karimi and Yazdan (surname unknown) were sentenced to death by the judge, who stipulated they be thrown from a height.

2:35 PM — A former Baptist minister who wants the Republican party nomination for US President has been backed by one of the most influential evangelicals in America.James Dobson from Focus on the Family is notorious for his homophobic views. His endorsement of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was announced yesterday.Focus on the Family claims to be a non-partisan organisation that "nurtures and develops families."

10:44 AM — On Tuesday Senator Hillary Clinton managed to secure a slight edge over Barack Obama in terms of the number of delegates won over the course of 22 nationwide primaries.While Clinton used her experience, star quality, deep political connections and long-term history to score eight major wins in delegate rich states like California, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, Obama played to his oratorical and organisational strengths in smaller states.

7th February 2008

6:02 PM — Mitt Romney has dropped out of the contest to become the Republican party nominee for President of the United States.The former Governor of Massachusetts met with aides most of yesterday to discuss his next step.On Tuesday, when almost half of the states chose a Republican candidate, he was roundly defeated by Senator John McCain and lost a string of Southern states to Mike Huckabee, the former Governor of Arkansas.

4:10 PM — Exit polling during Super Tuesday's Democratic primaries in two key states found that a clear majority of gay, lesbian and bisexual voters supported Hillary Clinton.The Advocate reports that in California, the most populous state in the US, 4% of voters told pollsters they are gay, lesbian or bisexual and 63% voted for the Former First Lady, with 29% voting for Barack Obama.In New York, the only other state where voters were asked about their sexuality, 7% said they were LGB.

3:50 PM — New South Wales police have warned gay revellers at Australia's biggest party that they have a zero tolerance approach to drugs.Sydney's month of Mardi Gras celebrations culminates on March 1st with the world-famous parade and a Sleaze Ball and the Good Vibrations music festival attended by more than 35,000 people.Police said they will be using sniffer dogs and more than 100 officers to stop people using drugs. Last year 20 people were charged with possession at last year's parade.

3:35 PM — A group of men arrested in Senegal on suspicion of homosexuality have been released from prison.Seven arrested last weekend in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, were released yesterday, according to Radio France Internationale.The arrests followed the publication in local magazine Icones photographs of a "marriage ceremony" between two Senegalese men.Sources report that the photographs were sold to the magazine by the photographer for 1,500,000 CFA francs (£1,500).

1:10 PM — 78% of voters in Holland would be comfortable with a homosexual leader, a wide-ranging opinion poll has revealed.Under a third would find an Islamic Prime Minister acceptable, while just 33% would be happy with a fundamentalist Christian.21,000 members of popular TV programme EenVandaag's opinion panel gave their views.34% would accept a PM who visits prostitutes and 26% one who took hard drugs such as heroin.

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